Why the last mile matters
Linehaul moves pallets in bulk; the last mile moves one package to one address, and that loss of density is why the final leg eats an outsized share of total delivery cost. It’s also the only leg the customer ever sees: the promise made at checkout settles on a doorstep, so last-mile performance is simultaneously the store’s biggest logistics cost lever and its most visible trust surface.
The last-mile options stores mix
- National carriersReach everywhere, priced for it
- Regional carriersCheaper and often faster inside their footprint, worth rate-shopping
- Pickup points and lockersDensity restored by letting customers come partway
- Same-day networksDark stores and courier fleets where speed is the product
Questions
Why is the last mile the expensive part?
Density economics: a truck between cities amortizes across thousands of parcels, while a van on a residential loop pays per stop, with failed deliveries, redelivery, and returns pickups compounding the bill. Anything that raises stops-per-mile, batching, lockers, delivery-day consolidation, attacks the cost at its root.
How do smaller stores improve last-mile cost and speed?
Borrowed density: 3PLs whose volume earns better carrier rates, multi-node inventory that shortens the leg, regional-carrier rate shopping, and pickup options offered at checkout. The lever is placing inventory and choosing carriers deliberately, not running vans.